Meet Juan: EnGen Learner, Devoted Father, Aspiring Accountant
“My biggest inspiration to learn English was my family.”
Juan left Venezuela for the United States in 2016, his wife and two children in tow. A certified public accountant in Venezuela, he’d left behind a successful career in the banking sector that had provided a comfortable life for his family. Yet the country’s political and economic instability threatened their future.
“We decided to move for the well-being of our daughters,” Juan recalls.
The family arrived in Georgia, where they knew friends. Juan, who had never studied English, said he started studying “the minute they arrived.” He had a goal to return to a career in finance, and knew that English skills would open the pathway.
Juan enrolled in an adult ESL course offered through his eldest daughter’s school. Toggling between working 12-hour shifts at a factory and two hours of in-person English class three nights a week, he was exhausted.
“I don’t think that was the best way to use my time. I was starting at level zero, learning basic numbers, like 1 to 10. I did that for three years, and I couldn’t retain anything,” he recalls. “And then I enrolled in a different course, and took a placement test, and I was still at the beginning level. And I thought, ‘my god, this is difficult.’”
While Juan felt that his English skills were stagnating, his job prospects were improving. The family moved to Tennessee, where he started a job at a newly opened Amazon facility that had been recommended by a friend.
The new job came with a pay raise that would give Juan the luxury of a few additional hours of free time – along with the ability to enroll in the Career Choice program, an educational and skills training benefit for Amazon employees that pre-pays tuition for English language programs, industry certifications, and college classes.
Making Long-Awaited Progress in English
“It was October 2023. I had been trying to learn English for almost seven years and I still couldn’t have a conversation. I was frustrated,” Juan recalls. “And then I changed to EnGen.”
Via a partnership with Amazon’s Career Choice program, tens of thousands of Amazon associates have connected with EnGen, an on-demand English learning platform that provides career-aligned instruction, coaching, and online group classes.
“It’s a really advanced platform in comparison to the others [that I have tried],” Juan says. “I like the group classes. I work with my coach a lot. She has really helped me get the most out of the platform. Learning English is difficult, so you need somebody to help.”
EnGen’s platform includes more than 130 courses that are tailored to learners’ levels, interests, and real-world goals.
Many Amazon employees find that courses like “English for Workplace Safety” and “Introduction to E-commerce Warehousing” give them vocabulary and skills that are immediately applicable to their day-to-day work – a proven best practice for helping adult English learners’ progress in their proficiency. Juan has also tapped EnGen’s finance-related courses, including “English for Accounting and Finance,” and “English for Financial Services.”
Unlike traditional classroom approaches to instruction, which require in-person attendance and hours of continuous study time, EnGen’s platform is built around the needs of busy working adults like Juan. Lessons can be completed in as little as 10 minutes, and learners have 24/7 access to the platform via a smartphone or computer, allowing them to complete study whenever and wherever is convenient.
Over the course of five months, Juan has invested about four hours a week on EnGen’s platform, and has moved to an intermediate level in his proficiency scores, in addition to feeling more confident in speaking English. Juan is in good company: A recent survey of EnGen learners showed that 93% improved their confidence in using English and 90% saved time at work as a result of improved English skills.
Since arriving in the U.S. Juan and his wife welcomed a third child, reaffirming Juan’s commitment to providing for his family. With a goal to recertify as a public accountant in the United States, Juan knows that he has a long road ahead, but is confident that he’ll get there with support from Career Choice and EnGen.
“You have to work hard, but you need to be smart about how you’re spending your time. Money is important, but you also have to make time to invest in yourself.”
EnGen partners with Fortune 500 companies, regional employers, educational institutions and government agencies to serve tens of thousands of adult English learners like Juan. Learn how it can work for your organization: https://getengen.com/demo